Making Road Safety Pay

The Government must “put safety on roads on the same footing as safety in the air, sea or on rail”, according to the Road Safety Foundation.This report makes seven key recommendations to change the national focus on road safety over the next decade.

The report is intended to act as a platform for all road safety stakeholders to discuss and develop new practical measures that will set the UK on a track to achieving zero road deaths within the next decade.

The report says the DfT should develop a 10-year ‘towards zero’ strategy for road deaths, and that the Government should pilot ‘Social Impact Bonds’ to finance new safety programmes.

Other proposals include: a zero rate Insurance Premium Tax (IPT) for drivers under the age of 25 years whose vehicles are fitted with a telematics unit; development of a National Older Driver Strategy; autonomous emergency braking (AEB) as standard on all new cars; minimum safety levels of 4-stars for the busiest national roads and minimum 3-stars for all other national roads by 2025; establishing an independent Road Safety Inspectorate; and raising the safety of local authority ‘A’ roads to a 3-star minimum level by 2030.